Lignite-distillation apparatus



April 27 1926. 1 1,582,297

J. E. NEUMAIER LIGNITE DI STILLATION APPARATUS Filed Feb. 1, 1922 SSheets-Sheet L ATTORNEY April 27 1926.

J. E. NEUMAIER LIGNITE DISTILLATION APPARATUS Filed Feb. 1, 1922 3Sheets-Sheet 2 A ril 27,1926.

J. E. NEUMAIER LIGNITE DISTILLATION APPARATUS 5 Sheets-Sheet Filed Feb.1 1922 Patented Apr. 27, 1926.

UNITED STATES 1,582,297 PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN E. NEUMAIER, OF DAYTON, OHIO, ASSIGNOB TO THE LIGNITE PRESSED GOAL"COMPANY, OF DAYTOIL' OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

LIGNITE-DISTILLA TION APPARATUS.

Application filed February 1, 1922. Serial No. 533,438.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JoHNE. NEUMAIER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Dayton, in the county of Montgomery and State of Ohio, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Lignite-DistillationApparatus, of which the following is a specification. 1

My invention relates to an apparatus for treating lignite and likematerial in order to distil the moisture, oils, creosote and volatilegases, leaving for briquetting purposes only the fixed carbon. Asdisclosed in the drawing the apparatus comprises a retort of particularform to which is connected a condenser for the vaporizedand volatileproducts from which the liquefied by-products are drawn into a settlingchamber while the gaseous products are conducted elsewhere.

Li nite is an imperfectly formed coal or one m which the natural processof transformation has been incomplete. It is found in largedeposits-widely distributed. In its general chemical composition itoccupies a place substantiallymidway between coal and vegetation.-Lignite usually contains a considerable proportion of hygroscopicwater, and decidedly more oxygen than true coal. It also containscertain light oils, creosote and a proportion of pitch, as well as othermore or less volatile by-products. In its natural state it is muchinferior to true coal as fuel and. materially less combustible. Whenbriquetted in its natural form it is unstable, possessing a tendency todisintegrate or crumble and is of low combustibility. However, whenspecially treated to drive off or distil the moisture, light oils,

creosote and gases, and formed into compressed blocks or briquettes, itnot only affords a highly efiicient fuel but one of very convenient formfor general purposes, which will retain its shape and highcombustibility under all conditions.

The present invention pertains to a simple, economical and convenientform of apparatus by which the lignite may be pre cheapened' inconstruction, but will be more efficient in use,'positive in operation,uniform in action, rapid and unlikely to get out of repair.

A further object of the invention is to provide improved means fortreating the material in small separated portions or masses, whereby thetreatment is thorough thruout the entire body of material, and tofurther provide means for conserving the by-products driven off in thedistillation process.

lVith the above primary and other incidental objects in view as willmore fully appear in the specification, the invention consists of thefeatures of construction, the

parts and combinations thereof and the mode of operation or theirequivalents. as hereinafter described and set forth in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, wherein has been shown the preferred, butobviously not the only form of embodiment of the invention, Fig. 1 is aside elevation of the revoluble drum or retort cylinder and Fig. 1 is acontinuation to the right of Fig. 1, to include'the condenser andsettling chamber for the by-products. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectionalview of the retort cylinder or drum on line 22of Fig. 3. Fig. 3 is adetail transverse sectional view of the retort drum or cylinder, showingthe relative location of the material passages and the terminal chamber.Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are detail views of the antifriction or roller bearingsfor the revoluble drum or cylinder.

Like parts are indicated by similar characters of reference throughoutthe several views.

The retort drum or cylinder shown par-. ticularly in Figs. 1 and 2embodies spaced oppositely disposed heads comprising an intake head 1and an outlet or discharge head 2, between which there is located theinclined revoluble cylinder or drum 3. Each of the heads 1 and 2 isprovided with oppositely extending horizontally disposed trunnions orstuds 4 for engagement in a suitable mounting whereby either of theheads may be elevated or lowered relative to the trunnion connection ofthe other head to vary the inclination of the revoluble drum orcylinder. The intake head 1 is provided with a hopper 5, thru which thematerials to be operated upon is su plied. This be per 5 discharges intothe if) wer portion 0 the head 1. The opposite or discharge head 2 isprovided at the bottom with an outlet or discharge orifice 6, thru whichthe material is finally discharged. The intermediate revoluble cylinderor drum comprises an exterior shell 7, carrying at its opposite endheads 8 and 9, having revoluble bearings in the respective heads 1 and2. Thehea-d 1 is provided on its inner face with a grooved bearing ring10 in which engages a bearing flange 11 projecting from the terminalface of the cylinder head 8. The cylinder or drum head 9 at the oppositeend of the shell 7 is provided with an integral worm gear 13 with whichengages a driving worm 14 to to rotate the cylinder. The integral gearrin 13 forms with the periphery of the cylinder head 9 two angularlyarranged bearing surfaces for engagement with angularly arranged sets ofroller bearings 15 and 16, carried by the terminal stationary head 2 ofthe structure. One set of these bearings 15 engaging the peripheral faceof the head 9 carry the load as the cylinder revolves while the secondset of roller bearings 16 engaging the lateral face of the gear ring 13assume the thrust incident to the inclination of the cylinder or drum.These rollers may be mounted in any suitable or convenient manner in thehead'2. There have been shown in detail in Figs. 4, 5 and 6 aneconomical but very eflicient construction wherein the stationarystructure head 2 is provided with a ring 18 having groovedrecessestherein to receive the rollers 15 at spaced intervals. Retaining plates19 are provided to overlie the trunnions of the roller, such plateshaving openings'therein thru which the face of the roller protrudesintoengagement with the cylinder head 9. The ring 18 has been shown ofangular or flanged form, the peripheral flange of which is likewiserecessed to receive the bearing rollers 16 which are retained by similarretaining plates 19.

The cylinder heads 8 and 9 are interconnected by tie rods 20 tostrengthen and stiffen the structure. Within the shell 7 ofthe cylinderor drum and preferably concentrically disposed in relation therewith isa thermal chamber 21, comprising an enlarged tubular inner shell 22, theends of which are engaged in the opposite cylinder heads 8 and 9.Extending from the cylinder head 9 thru the stationary discharge head 2of the structure is a tubular extension or conduit 23, communicating atits inner end with the thermal chamber 21 and open at its outer end toatmosphere. Any suitable form of heating means may be employed withinthe thermal chamber 21. For instance a succession of coils of hot wateror eteam'pipos may be located therein, the connections thereto beingcarried thru the extensions or continuation 23, Likewise an electricalheating element may be positioned within the thermal chamber theelectrical site ends mounted in the respective heads.

8 and 9 of the cylinder and are open at their opposite ends into theintake and discharge heads 1 and 2 of the retort structure. As thematerial to be operated upon is discharged into the receiving head 1, aportion of such material flows into the lowest passage or retort conduit25 of the series. As the drum or cylinder rotates each succeedingmaterial passage or conduit 25 receives a portion of the charge. It willbe understood that the lignite or other material to be discharged is ina ground or subdivided condition. The material need not be reduced topowder or granular form but is preferably in comparatively small pieces.Of course the smaller these subdivisions are made the more rapidly thematerial inay be distilled. By the use of a plurality of passages orconduits 25, each of which receives a portion of the charge of material,the material is divided into a number of small batches, so that it isbrought into more intimate relationship with the central thermal unit.As the cylinder revolves, the material within thepassages is agitatedand turned so that every portion ofit is subjected to the heat emanatingfrom the central chamber 21. This agitation and tumbling of the materialin the separate compartments 25 conduces a movement of the materialdownwardly thru the cylinder toward the discharge end thereof. Thesematerial passages or conduits all discharge the contents into theterminal stationary retort head 2 from which the material flows thru theoutlet opening 6. In its passage from the intake head 1 to the dischargehead 2, while being agitated and tumbled the material under theinfluence of the heat to which it is subjected gives off its moistureand volatile products. The vapors and gases including the water, thecreosote, light oils, oxygen and other gases are released from the massof material leaving therein substantially only the, fixed carbon, andthe pitch. The vapors and volatile matter are carried off from theretort thru conduits 28' and 29 communicating with the intake anddischarge heads 1 and 2 respectively. .These vapor conduits 28 and 29preferably though not necessarily unite at 30 into a common conduit 31which leads thru a condenser chamber 32 of any suitable or convenientform. In the drawing, the condenser 32 has been shown diagrammaticallyin a very conventional manner. It will be understood that any type ofcondenser suitable for this purpose may be employed. From the condenserthe continuation of the conduit 31 leads thru a settling chamber 33. Theconduit extension 32' has within the settling chamber 33 a vent oroutlet orifice 3-1, in the lowermost side of the conduit thru which theliquefied products of the distillation are deposited in the settlingchamber. The conduit extension or continuation 32 communicates at itsend with a suction pump 35 by which the unliquefied gases are drawn overand beyond the outlet vent 34, and dis charged thru any suitable source.The water, creosote and oil will be discharged together into thesettling chamber 33, wherein the oil and creosote being of less densitywill rise to the top of the fluid contents of the chamber, leaving thewater in the bottom to be drawn off thru the stop cock 36. The oil andcreosote may be drawn from the top of the water thru a similar outlet 37prior to the discharge of the water."

In many districts where lignite deposits are found, water. is quitescarce and the water of condensation or distillation thus extracted fromthe lignite material may be utilized in the process as for instance inthe power plant for supplying water to the boilers of a steam engine fordriving the cylinder or drum. Likewise the gases extracted from thelignite fuel may be utilized as fuel for the generation of steam forpower purposes.

From the above description it will be apparent that there is thusprovided a device of the character described possessing the particularfeatures of advantage before enumerated as desirable, but whichobviouslyis susceptible of modification in its form, proportions, detailconstruction and arrangement of parts without departing from theprinciple involved or sacrificing any of its advantages.

While in order to comply with'the statute.

the invention has been described in language more or less specific as tostructural features,

it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the specificdetails shown, but that the means and construction herein disclosedcomprise but one of several modes of putting the invention intoeifect,.and the invention is therefore claimedin any of its forms ormodifications within the legitimate and valid scope of the appendedclaims.

' Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In a distillation retort for lignite or the like, oppositely disposedspaced heads having inlet and outlet orifices, an inclined revolublecylinder having bearings in said heads, independent passages thru thecylinder and communicating with the heads for the material to bedistilled, means for subjecting the material to heat during its passage,and oppositely disposed horizontal trunnions upon the heads about whichthe opposite ends of the structure is capable of vertical swingingadjustment to vary the inclination of the inclined cylinder.

2. In a lignite distillation apparatus, an inclined revoluble drum, ahead enclosing the lower end of the inclined drum in relation with whichthe drum is revoluble, a thrust collar exteriorly mounted upon the drum,and two series of antifriction rollers carried by the head, the membersof one series being arranged at substantially right angles to those ofthe other series and engaging the thrust collar and the periphery of thedrum respectively.

3. In a. lignite distillation apparatus, a revoluble drum, a heatcompartment concentrically disposed within the drum in spaced relationwith the walls thereof and closed at one end, heads enclosing theopposite ends of the drum, material inlet and outlet passagescommunicating with the heads, and a passage through one of the headscommunicating with the heating compartment within the drum.

4. In an apparatus for distilling lignite, an inclined revolublecylinder having material inlet and outlet orifices located at itsopposite ends, means for rotating the cylinder about its longitudinalaxis, and pivoted supporting heads at the opposite ends of the cylinder,enabling longitudinal tilting adjustment thereof to vary its inclinationto regulate the rapidity of movement of the material from the inlet tothe outlet orifice.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 20th day ofOctober A. D.

1921. JOHN E. NEUMAIER.

